It's an urgency

While making supper one recent evening, trying to keep tabs on the frying pan of meat as well as the pot of boiling noodles, I was interrupted by not just one, but both of my children. They have such uncanny timing.

"Mom. Mom." Sydney called from the living room.

"Mom," AJ called from my bedroom, where he was watching TV.

"Mom," Sydney repeated, "I need help."

"Mom," AJ again called from my bedroom.

"Hang on AJ." I made the decision that Sydney sounded more desperate.

"Mom, I broke it, but it was an accident," Sydney said.

"Mom," AJ called for the third time. Patience is not one of his strong points.

"Mom, it was an accident," Sydney repeated.

By this point I'd reached her, only to see that a toy of AJ's that easily snaps together, had unsnapped. Not a problem at all.

I headed to the bedroom as AJ again called, "Mom!"

I finally reaching the bedroom door. AJ was laying on my bed watching Sponge Bob on TV. Right at that moment Squidward was storming across the screen, obviously frustrated by something Sponge Bob had just said or done.

"What is it?" I asked.

"How long is it until November 28th?"

Knowing that I had a pot of noodles on the verge of boiling over, I clenched my fists, rolled my eyes and headed for the kitchen, no doubt mimicking the cartoon cephalopod I'd just witnessed.

I called over my shoulder, "About 1o months."

Once supper was safely in the oven, my curiosity got the best of me. I returned to my room and asked, "Why do you need to know when November 28th is?"

"Because there's going to be an awesome new Sponge Bob on November 28th."

"Laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Laugh at the ridiculousness of it all." I told myself.

Jeff had joined me by this point. "Do you mean January 28th?" he asked.

At last AJ looked sheepish. "Yeah, I guess January 28th."

And the children wonder why I sometimes wear my iPod while cooking dinner.